Brightest Young Things

all words: Aaron Baird
all photos: Eddie Diego

Press play on "Scissor," the first track off Sisterworld, the new Liars record. When you get get to about 1:41, stop. In your mind, place yourself before two large swinging wooden doors to a room from wherein light organ and soft melodies drift about.

At 1:42, picture your hair being blown back from skull by the power of sonic boom.

That was my Wednesday night arrival at Rock and Roll Hotel. I was 15 minutes late, but seemed to have walked in at the most opportune moment. Liars were cutting into the release portion of their tension/release case study, and I was the victim.

Like any good musical group, Liars are a visceral band. They're a physical operation. With a towering, manic, and utterly hilarious front man who's reminiscent of all three Wizards of Oz, it's very difficult to avoid being sucked into the unfolding act. They relay an incredibly potent and forceful display of thee musical essential: tension and release. There is a lot of tension. There is a lot of release.

A lot is written about how the Liars are driven by geography. Met in Los Angeles, live/lived in Berlin, Brooklyn and back to Los Angeles to record most of this last record. They made a record, Sisterworld, about the spaces within a city, Los Angeles, where pockets of folks can survive, find meaning, and thrive within their own unconcentric subcultures. In essence, a reflection on flourishing in discomfort and unfamiliarity; a practice the band seems to embrace and subsume as an essential feature in their identity.

If you like the Liars, you realize that they do what they do better than anyone else. They make you uncomfortable. They make you nervous; on edge. Jumpy. In their lyrical darkness, their aural dissonance, the blunt force of decibel, and in their repetitive mantra, you're unsure about what to make of it.

I know this isn't real -- Is this contrived? Am I scared? How do I react? Do I dance? My ears hurt, but am I in pain? My body is moving in some way, but should it? Can I help it?

Am I enjoying the screaming about blood, murder and the calls for execution? Holy god christ. Too late, I'm vibin' now.

The Liars thrive on exploring and exploting the vivacity in fear, regardless of how familiar the tension/anxiety is to the listener. For an hour, you will be moved by it.

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Previously in Live DC:

• 5/22: LiveDC: Spirit Animal @ Red Palace
• 5/22: LiveDC: Astra Via @ Black Cat
• 5/22: LiveDC: Father John Misty @ Rock & Roll Hotel
• 5/22: LiveDC: Drive-By Truckers and Lucinda Williams @ Merriweather
• 5/22: Photos: Summer Camp takes the "Ladies of Town" Drag Show
• 5/22: LiveDC: Penguin Prison & Class Actress @ RNR Hotel
• 5/21: LiveDC: James Morrison @ 930 Club
• 5/21: Photos: Que Sera L'Anniversaire @ Napoleon
• 5/21: LiveDC: La Sera/ Beach Week @ Red Palace
• 5/21: LiveDC: The Black Keys & Arctic Monkeys @ Merriweather Post Pavilion